Kevin Spacey Pleads Not Guilty in Sexual Assault Case

Weeks after he posted a bizarre video in character as his former role as President Frank Underwood from House of Cards, Kevin Spacey was in a courtroom in Massachusetts today. After protesting his innocence as Underwood (a character famous for being notoriously evil, up to and including murdering his political enemies, which made him kind of a weird messenger in this case), Spacey pled not guilty to a charge of felony indecent assault and battery stemming from an incident where he allegedly groped an 18-year-old boy in 2016.

The judge set another hearing for March 4. Spacey does not have to appear, the judge ruled, but said he needs to be available by phone. Spacey must stay away from his accuser and his accuser’s family, the judge also ordered.

This was Spacey’s first criminal case since sexual misconduct allegations first emerged against the actor in 2017. The first came from actor Anthony Rapp; after he published his account in Buzzfeed, several others accused Spacey of similar behavior over the years. According to the AP, Spacey’s accuser’s mother claims the star “got her son drunk and then grabbed his genitals.”

Spacey was soon fired from House of Cards, which then filmed its final season without him, and replaced in Ridley Scott’s All the Money in the World, which re-filmed every scene he’d originally appeared in. (His replacement, Christopher Plummer, went on to earn a Best Supporting Actor nomination for the performance.) Here’s the scene as Spacey arrived at court today.